Held by Darkness
by momocandy
Summary: Fine and Rein have a dark secret, a secret that no one else can know about. But this secret is slowly eating away at their souls, and things take a turn for the worst. The twins are desperately in need of saving. Will two princes be able to bring light to their darkness?
1. Chapter 1

**Fine's POV**

Some sacrifices must be made for the sake of others, even at the cost of your own life.

* * *

_My sister and I cowered in fear as the monster towered over us, laughing a horrible laugh._

_"You cannot escape now, futago hime. The life of the Mysterious Star is on the line. You wouldn't betray your beloved planet, would you? Now come here, my little pets."_

_We didn't want to do this._

_We didn't want to be used by this monster._

_But we had no choice. _

_It was for the sake of all our friends, for the sake of everybody living on Fushigi Boshi._

_It was our job to protect them._

_It would be our little secret._

_I gripped my sister's hand and we walked forward._

_We were doing the right thing…right?_

* * *

Morning came. I awoke to the sound of Camelot's ranting.

"Fine-sama! Rein-sama! Wake up! You're going to be late for school!"

I buried my head in my pillow.

"Just a little longer…" Rein and I murmured in unison. The same words every morning. The same lazy princesses who didn't want to get out of bed.

Only this time it wasn't because we were being lazy.

We were genuinely tired—from yesterday night.

"You're going to get points taken off if you're late again de-poomo," Poomo reminded us.

"Mmmm…" we answered, still half-asleep.

Poomo didn't know.

And we weren't planning on telling him.

But we still had to act normal, to prevent suspicions.

So that's why, a couple minutes later...

"AHHHHHHH! HURRY UP WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" I yelled, frantically bustling about and getting all my school things.

"What did I tell you de-poomo?" Poomo sighed.

I shoved on my hat while Rein got her schoolbag and we flew out of our room.

The school bell was chiming.

Five…Four…

We ran faster.

Three…Two…

We were almost there…

One.

"WE'RE HERE!" we shouted as we burst into the classroom.

Some people looked up, but most of our classmates were already used to this daily morning routine.

Rein and I breathed a sigh off relief, then started toward our seats. Suddenly, a sharp pain sliced through my stomach. I let out a cry and fell to my knees, clutching it in agony.

Damn, I forgot about the wound.

Rein hurried over. I could tell she was scared, really scared.

"F-Fine, are you all right?" She looked about ready to cry.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm okay. Just—" I winced.

It hurt so much.

But I couldn't let anyone know about it.

It was our secret.

The whole class had rushed to me when I collapsed. I heard their worried voices and saw their troubled eyes. But they were only making me hurt even more.

Shade came over and kneeled down to face me. When his troubled violet eyes met mine, I felt a pain deep inside my chest. Shade...I'm sorry...

"Fine, what's wrong? Do you have a fever or something?" He reached out to feel my forehead. I immediately backed away and picked myself up, trying as hard as I could not to show the unbearable pain I was in. Spots danced before my eyes. I felt lightheaded. But I sucked in a huge gulp of air and smiled a big smile.

"Daijoubu! Daijoubu! My stomach just hurts a little. I must've eaten a bad cake yesterday." I forced a laugh.

Rein came over and backed me up.

"That's what you get when you eat so many cakes," she pretended to sigh. Turning to the others, she said, "I'm going to bring her to the infirmary for now. It's okay. Knowing her, she'll recover soon."

"Here, let me come with you," Shade offered.

At this I shook my head vigorously. Shade couldn't come. He of all people couldn't find out.

"No, no, it's alright," Rein assured him. "You wouldn't want to miss class, would you? Don't worry, we'll be fine."

Without another word, Rein and I shuffled quickly out of the classroom.

"Hey—Wait!" Shade called after us.

His voice made my heart ache.

I wanted to run back to him.

I wanted to tell him everything.

But that wasn't an option.

So I just squeezed my eyes shut and kept walking.

It hurt so much, so much.

**Thank you for reading! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

I fell onto one of the infirmary beds, safely hidden behind a curtain. Rein sat in a chair next to me. My stomach felt as if someone were ripping it apart. I lay down on the pillow and covered my face with my hands.

Why us? Why did it have to be us?

"I'm sorry Rein, for making you lie like that to all of our friends. You must feel horrible," I said, still hiding my face. My voice shook.

Rein smiled weakly.

"It's okay Fine. You had to lie too, didn't you? We both agreed to do this. And right now you're the one in the most pain. Let me see your wound."

Rein helped me take off my uniform. Her eyes widened at the deep blood-red gash that ran across my stomach.

It had been our first night. And the master was a lot harsher than I thought. He sent hundreds of them at us, literally hundreds...

I can't believe I'm still alive.

Rein quickly used prominence to heal my injury. The pain disappeared, but a scar remained. And I knew that this scar would never go away. After I put on my uniform again, I glanced at Rein. She was silent. I knew she was trying to be strong for my sake, but I could tell she was on the verge of tears. I felt a stab in my heart. It didn't matter if I suffered. As long as my sister didn't. She was more delicate than I was. She broke easliy. She needed someone for support. I wanted to be there for her.

"Rein, you don't need to hold back for me. Just let it out. Let it all out. I'll cry with you." I went over and hugged her.

"Fine…" her voice caught and she wrapped her arms around me, tears trickling down her cheeks.

I closed my eyes and started crying too.

"Fine, I'm so sorry I couldn't heal the wound sooner! You must've been in so much pain. I'm so sorry!" She said between hiccups. Her body was shaking so much.

I hugged her tighter.

"Baka, what are you saying? As long as were together, we can get though anything, even this. Don't worry Rein. Never give up hope," I whispered softly.

She didn't answer.

I knew she doubted it.

I did too.

But I had to be strong. For Rein, for Shade, for everyone else.

Yet I couldn't stop my tears from flowing.

We were so alone.

Alone in a world of darkness.

And we would never be able to get out.

* * *

_"Let's get to work now, shall we?" the monster growled._

_"Yes, master," Rein and I replied monotonously._

_He opened the cage. Demons and other evil creatures streamed out, charging at us. Rein and I stood our ground and raised our wands. A bright glow lit up the darkness and the deafening roar of several hundred monsters sounded through the silence. The master studied us from afar. _

_This happened every night, every night when we spun the Black Ring and were teleported here. Our master wanted to research us, to see how powerful the prominence could be. And he had no mercy._

_He had us trapped from the very beginning. He was stronger than one could ever imagine, and if we did not give in to his commands, he would have destroyed our whole planet. We couldn't let that happen. It was our duty, as princesses, to protect Fushigi Boshi, to make sure our subjects were happy and content. We would do anything to preserve peace on our planet, even sacrifice our own lives. I thought we were ready._ _But I was wrong._

_My head hurt. My arm hurt. I felt nauseous. I wanted to throw up. But I couldn't falter. One wrong move and I would get killed. I had silently vowed that I would stay alive no matter what. I couldn't leave Rein alone. So I ignored the fatigue, I ignored the pain, and I just kept fighting. _

_Then it happened. _

_I turned away from Rein for just a second. And a piercing scream shattered the darkness. It was only our second night, and I already hadn't been able to protect her. In one angry sweep I disintergrated the demon that had gotten a hold of her foot, but the damage was done. The tears came again. They were always there these days. Yes, I hated the master and I hated the demons. But I hated the tears the most._

* * *

The sun rose once again. We had survived another night of terror. And another day has come.

But life during the day was none less difficult.

Rein came to the school on crutches. I had healed the wound as much as I could after we came back to our room, but there hadn't been enough time for a full recovery. Rein had told me I was being stupid blaming it all on myself, but I can't help it. Her injury is much worse than that little gash I got on my stomach two nights before.

As we suspected, the crutches attracted a lot of attention at school. Bright was the first to come over and ask about it. We knew this was going to happen so we made up a story to convince everyone. It was the same one we had told Poomo and Camelot.

"Hehe, I twisted my ankle after I fell down the stairs after school." Rein grinned sheepishly.

"Does it hurt still?" Bright asked, his crimson eyes filled with concern.

"No, no, it doesn't hurt at all! I'm perfectly fine!" Rein replied cheerfully, shaking her head.

Bright exhaled. "I see. That's good to hear. Be more careful next time, okay?"

He then patted her on the head, smiled, and left.

Rein watched him go. When she finally turned to face me, her ocean blue eyes sparkled with tears.

"Fine, why does it hurt so much?"

I didn't know what to say. And I knew it was useless to try to comfort her with words. So I just went over and hugged her and put all of my feelings in that hug. Rein managed a faint smile.

"As long as were together we can get through this, right?"

I nodded. Rein wiped away her tears and we both took a deep breath and hurried to class.

We didn't notice a little figure dart around the corner, running quickly away.

The rest of the day went fine, until gym came around.

I hadn't told Rein because I didn't want to worry her anymore than she already was, but I had hurt my hand slightly the night before when I went to save her. It's no big deal, really, just a little damage to the bone. I knew I should've skipped gym and went to the nurse to have it treated but I didn't want to alarm Rein. And just my luck–we were playing dodgeball today. _As long as I don't catch anything with my left hand, I'll be fine,_ is what I thought. But of course something went wrong. During the game some idiot whipped the ball hard and it was headed toward me and I didn't have time to dodge it so I did what any other person would do: raise my hands to shield my face.

Wrong move.

As soon as the ball hit my left hand a scorching pain went through me as if my hand was on fire. I fell, clutching my left wrist, while the rest of my teammates ran over. Rein, who had been watching from the sidelines, pushed to the front.

"Fine, what's wrong? What happened to your hand?" She rushed at me.

"N-Nothing's wrong! I just twisted it a little when I caught the ball!"

The look from her eyes told me that she knew I was lying.

Shade came forward.

"Okay, today I'm definitely bringing you to the infirmary." His violet eyes bored into mine. I could see the worry, the questions in them.

Oh god. Not Shade.

But he pulled me up, grabbed my right hand, and dragged me towards the school before I could even protest. Rein followed closely behind on her crutches. She didn't even try to stop him.

* * *

In the infirmary, Shade ordered me to sit down on the bed and he inspected my hand. His eyes narrowed at what he discovered.

"Fine, what do you mean it's nothing! You fractured your wrist!" He looked at me angrily. "You can't fracture your wrist by just blocking a ball! It was already hurt before, right?"

He was grip around my injured hand was getting tighter.

"Ow!" I grimaced.

Shade let go immediately and turned away.

"...Sorry."

We sat there in silence.

My head was bowed.

I couldn't face Shade.

I couldn't face Rein.

How did this happen?

Suddenly, Shade spoke up.

"Why didn't you tell anybody about your wrist? Why didn't you tell me? You've done nothing but avoid me in the past few days. What's going on, Fine?" Shade sounded hurt.

Each question was like a stab to my heart.

"T-There's really nothing going on, but..." I couldn't meet Shade's eyes.

"But what?" he pushed.

"But..." I tried to think of an excuse. None.

"Becuase..." I couldn't get the words out.

Suddenly tears started rolling down my cheeks.

Again.

I hate tears so much.

"Fine, why are you crying?" Shade's voice was softer now.

But I knew he was still confused and frustrated, and worried.

And it was all my fault.

The tears came down faster.

"C-Crying? I'm crying? Oh...W-Wow, I really am. I-It's weird...the tears just...came out...haha, I'm crying..." I stuttered. "I-I think I should just go back to my room now. Tell everybody I'm sorry, okay?" I stood up, rubbed my eyes, and went out before Shade could say anything. As I closed the door behind me, I noticed Rein was holding my right hand. I waited for her to say something. Was she going to yell at me?

She didn't.

Instead she just gave me that kind, gentle smile of hers and squeezed my hand.

"C'mon, we have to heal your wrist, right?"

The tears came again.

"Thanks, Rein." I squeezed her hand back.

A couple hours later, night came upon us.

It was time to go.

* * *

_We stood before the master. For some reason, he didn't send us directly to work today. I could only imagine what he wants from us. _

_"Futago hime, you are having trouble with some friends of yours, aren't you?"_

_We both gasped. How did he know? And what was he planning?_

_"I cannot allow my dolls to have such mixed feelings while I collect research. Something must be done."_

_"What are you-" _

_"Don't interrupt!" he scowled._

_I fell silent, but couldn't shake off the feeling of dread that was settling on me._

_"Hmph. Such foolish little pets. Don't worry, I won't hurt them," came the master's growl._

_Rein and I sighed in relief. _

_"You will."_

_I wasn't even able to fully understand the meaning of his words when there was a blinding flash of light and all became dark._

* * *

**Another chapter finished! PLEASE REVIEW! (I'm on my knees begging!)**


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up in my bed. I tried to remember what happened.

Nothing came to mind.

Rein turned and looked at the clock.

7:50 AM

"School's going to start in five minutes," she told me.

"Yeah."

Why did I have such a heavy feeling weighing me down? As if I didn't care about anything anymore. I didn't look in the mirror before I left. I didn't notice the dulled color of my eyes.

We entered the classroom silently. Everybody looked up. I heard them start to whisper.

"What's up with Fine and Rein today?"

"Why are they so quiet?"

"Did something bad happen?"

I didn't care. Instead, I walked to the front of the class. In monotone, I started to speak. The words came out as if I had rehearsed them many times before.

"We're not the Fine and Rein you once knew. We're not your friends anymore. Don't talk to us. Don't bother us. Don't have anything to do with us. Leave us alone. We're better off by ourselves."

I didn't know why I said that, but, like I mentioned before, I didn't care. All that mattered in my life was making sure the master got what he wanted.

A confused ripple of voices swept through the room. Heads turned as Rein and I took our seats. Shade came up to us, looking more worried than anybody else.

"Hey Fine, what's going on?" he asked.

I gazed up at him blankly.

Weird, my chest didn't hurt, not like when I talked to him before.

That was a good thing, right?

I stared into his violet eyes.

"Go away."

The words just came out.

A collective gasp was heard in the room.

"Did you hear that?"

"Fine just told Shade to go away!"

"What's wrong with her today?"

I had a feeling that I was supposed to be hurting, but strange, I didn't feel anything at all.

Shade was about to say something when I cut him off.

"Didn't you hear me the first time? I said, go away."

I think that made him snap.

"Look, Fine, I don't know what your problem is, but I'm not liking it. First you won't tell me whatever's bothering you and now you're acting like crap. You know people are actually worried about you. Why don't you think a little bit about others before you go doing your own selfish things?" he spat at me.

And with that, he walked away.

My classmates were looking at me, as if expecting me to stand up and chase after him.

I didn't move.

Why would I do something like that?

Shade was annoyed and frustrated and and angry and it was all my fault.

But my eyes remained emotionless.

Because, unlike before, there was no feeling. No sorrow, no anger, no nothing.

It was almost as if I didn't have a heart anymore.

* * *

**I sorry this is such a short chapter! Next time it will be Shade's POV! **

**Please, please review! The more reviews, the faster I update.**

**Oh, one thing, suggestions for improvement are always welcome in your reviews. I mean, its nice when people say they like my story, but I want real real opinions. Dont be sweet just for my sake.**

**Thanks!**

**Until next time, **

**momocandy.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Shade's POV**

I've never felt so freaking frustrated in my life. Something was obviously bothering the twins, but Fine wouldn't tell me anything. Whatever it was, I'm pretty sure it was hurting them too. It couldn't be just a coincidence that in the span of two days, Rein twisted her foot and Fine had to go to the infirmary twice. I knew the twins well, and even though they were probably the clumsiest people on Fushigi Boshi, they had never actually gotten severe injuries. I mean, when Fine fell holding her stomach that first day, I already knew something wasn't right. Maybe she was able to convince everyone else she was fine, but she couldn't trick me. I could tell she was in great pain, yet she desperately tried to hide it and I had no idea why. Everything just went downhill from there. And now here I am, lying on a bench in the academy garden, feeling like a load of crap.

Someone tapped my shoulder. I turned my head.

"Oh, hey Bright."

I must've sounded pretty depressed because Bright's next line was,

"You're sulking pretty badly. Did something happen?"

Ha, did something happen? Heck yeah something did.

"Yeah, I guess," I answered instead.

Then I pushed myself up into sitting position. Bright sat down next to me.

"So, what happened?"

I ran my fingers through my hair. Did I really have to talk about this? After thinking about it, I just sighed. I mean, sometimes he got annoying, but Bright was still my best bud. He had a right to know.

"It's about Fine."

"Oh, Fine?" Bright's eyes got a mischievous twinkle. "Did you have a fight with your _girlfriend_?"

"She is not my girlfriend!" I protested.

"Yet," Bright grinned at me.

I felt my face grow hot.

"Shut up! You're supposed to be making me feel better!"

Bright ignored me, as usual. He was pissing me off, and I didn't need to feel any worse than I already did.

"So, when are you going to confess to her?" He leaned closer to me.

I punched him.

So much for being best friends.

"Look, if you're not going to listen to me, then go away and flirt with Rein or something."

That caught Bright's attention. He stopped talking abruptly.

To think that just a second ago he was sputtering and throwing a stream of curses at me, and then bang! he's all quiet. Not that I was complaining or anything, but it just didn't feel right.

"Knock, knock, Bright, are you still here?" I whacked his head for good measure.

"Ow!" he yelled.

"Okay, so you can still talk. Kinda disappointing though," I cracked a smile, momentarily forgetting the load of crap I was in.

"Now's not the time for joking around." His crimson eyes were serious.

What a hypocrite.

Bright leaned back on the bench, raised his head to the sky, and sighed.

"Rein…I've been worried about her."

"Rein?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's been avoiding me for the last few days. I'm starting to wonder if I did something wrong to make her mad at me."

Wow, he was in the exact same shit as me.

I gazed up at the gray sky with him.

"I get you, Bright. It's the same with me and Fine. That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"Fine too?" he glanced at me, demanding further explanation.

I nodded bitterly.

"Fine hasn't been herself these last couple of days, especially today. She's not even answering me anymore. When I asked her, she just glared at me and told me to go away. I kind of exploded after that and came outside to get some air."

Bright looked unconvinced.

"Did Fine really do that? I've known her for a long time and she would never reject someone like that. Are you sure you didn't misunderstand her or something?"

Oh my frigging god I want to strangle this guy.

"Do you really think I would be seeing things at a time like this? I've known Fine for as long as you have and I as much as I don't want to believe it I'm sure that the person who glared at me before was Fine. Nobody else in the school has red hair tied up into two pigtails, right? There's definitely something going on with her and Rein and they won' t tell us and I am getting really, really pissed off!" I slammed my fist on the bench.

"Okay, okay, I believe you. Just calm down, Shade. Destroying school property is not going to help us," Bright patted me on the back.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Sorry. I kind of lost control again. It's just that this has never happened before and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

Even _I_ could hear the desperation in my voice.

I turned to Bright.

"How are _you_ keeping yourself together at a time like this?"

He blinked as if he had never thought about it before and then shrugged.

"Normally I would be in the same condition as you, but since you're already so messed up...I guess I could say you did the freaking out for me."

"Oh, you're welcome."

Bright smirked.

Then we heard another voice calling to us.

"Shade! Bright! There's something I need to tell you guys!" We turned. It was our friend, the Seed Kingdom's little prince, Solo. He stopped to catch his breath. I picked him up and raised him to eye level.

"Please…wait…a second," Solo was panting hard.

We waited.

"Okay, I'm good now," he exhaled.

"So, what did you want to tell us?" I asked him.

"Oh, I finally saw you guys sitting together and thought that it would be best to tell you now so I came running. It's about Fine and Rein."

I tensed. Bright sat rigid beside me.

"What about them?" we both asked anxiously.

"So, you see, yesterday, you know how Rein came to school with a twisted foot?"

Bright and I nodded.

"Well, I was just walking to class that day when I heard voices around the corner—Fine and Rein's voices. Since I was aware that they had been acting rather strangely the day before, I decided to check it out. I think I saw you walking away from them, Bright."

Bright had talked to the twins? I looked at him.

"Yesterday…yesterday…oh yeah!" he did that smacking-fist-into-hand gesture. "I went to see Rein because I heard she twisted her foot."

Oh, so just Rein.

Wait...why was I so relieved?

Unaware of my thoughts, Solo nodded.

"So I guess this was right after you left …" Solo continued to tell us the rest of what he saw.

After he finished, I sat there silent for who knows how long. I wasn't really surprised, because I always knew deep down something like this had been happening all along. It was something else, a weird kind of feeling that I had never felt before. But now was not the time for sorting out my emotions. Bright and I took one look at each other, and then, as if on a sudden impulse, we got up and sprinted towards the school, towards the class Fine and Rein were in.

I didn't know what we were going to do, but we had to do something.

* * *

**YAY! Another chapter done! **

**Me: Shade, Bright, you guys forgot about poor Solo. He's small remember? He can't run as fast as you giants. And you just left him there. How mean!**

**Shade: ...Oops. Sorry, man.**

**Solo: haha...its...okay *panting _really_ hard***

**Bright: Do you need to go to the hospital or something?**

**Solo: No...no need. *still panting _really_ hard***

**Me: See what happens when you make the wrong friends?**

**Shade: Like you're the one to talk. **

**Bright: We only associate with you because you're the author.**

***stab* *stab***

**Solo: I think momocandy needs the hospital now.**

**Me: Yes...please... *struggling to breathe***

**Anyways, look forward to the next chapter, and don't forget to review!**

**:)**


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